ARLINGTON HEIGHTS - The Illinois Senate approved a proposal Thursday that would permit the sale of Narcan, the antidote that saves the lives of those suffering overdoses of heroin or other opioids such as medication for chronic pain.

Illinois is one step away from the pharmacy sale of the antidote that reverses the effects of an overdose of these types of drug.

Senator Melinda Bush (D-31) was one of the forerunners of this proposal, and on Monday explained that the measure was approved unanimously in the Senate, and that approval in the House would allow the availability of the medicine naloxone, known commercially as Narcan, in pharmacies.

Bush made the announcement in front of the offices of Live4Lali, a group promoting access to the antidote, and that provides help to families of addicts and offers training in the use of Narcan.

As she explained, Narcan is an automatic device, injected subcutaneously in the person suffering overdose, and acts as an antidote that reverses the effects of the attack in order to buy time for the individual to be taken to a hospital for appropriate treatment.

"This proposal would allow anybody to go to a pharmacy, get training to use this medication and obtain a prescription at the pharmacy to have naloxone en their homes in case there's any member of the family, or a friend who might need it," Bush explained.

A bill working its way through the Illinois General Assembly this spring would allow Zion to impose impact fees for the storage of spent fuel at the lakefront nuclear plant that shut down in 1998 and continues to undergo decommissioning.

The bill passed through the State Senate by a 36-20 vote on April 23 and was assigned the next day to the House Rules Committee. If enacted, the measure would permit Illinois communities to "establish and collect a nuclear storage impact fee from the entity that operated a nuclear facility within the boundaries of the municipality" if a plant ceased generating electricity on or before the act's effective date.

That definition would include the Zion Station, which sits between Shiloh Boulevard and 29th Street east of Sheridan Road. The 257-acre property contains a reported 1,500 tons of spent, radioactive fuel rods that were initially stored in pools and have been transferred to steel-and-concrete dry casks since the formal decommissioning began in September 2010.

The bill's sponsor in the Senate, Democrat Melinda Bush of Grayslake, estimated that if the measure becomes reality, it could deliver $4 million to $5 million for Zion annually – or roughly a quarter of what the plant delivered in property taxes toward the end of its useful life.

"We've got 63 casks of nuclear waste down there, and the half-life for that is 10,000 years," Bush said on Monday. "If you're going to leave nuclear waste in a community and you expect it to shoulder the burden, there's a cost for that."

“Heroin use among our youth is a serious problem in the suburban areas I represent,” Bush said. “In the couple of weeks between this measure passing out of committee and today’s vote, Lake Zurich police saved another life with naloxone hydrochloride. By making opioid antidotes like Narcan available by prescription at pharmacies, we give families the same chance to stop a heroin overdose and save a life.”

Dubbed “Lali’s Law,” Senate Bill 1466 would make Narcan more readily available to pharmacies and provide for programs to help pharmacists to train families in its use in the event of an emergency. The name honors the ongoing efforts of Live4Lali, a drug addiction education and awareness not-for-profit founded by Chelsea Laliberte and her mother. The family formed the organization after Alex “Lali” Laliberte, Chelsea’s brother, died of a heroin overdose in 2008. The group has promoted awareness of and access to the drug.

Delivered via a intranasal or intramuscular injection, Narcan blocks the effects of opioids like heroin on the brain. When administered quickly enough, the fast-acting drug can counteract the effects of an opioid overdose. Medical professionals report little to no negative side effects in the event it is used in error.

The governor’s proposed budget reduces state funding to the Local Government Distributive Fund, which provides a share of income taxes to local governments. Here’s how much individual cities in the 31st District would lose.